A judge has ordered National Australia Bank to pay just one-fifth the $10 million penalty proposed by ASIC for overcharging customer fees, taking aim at the regulator’s concise pleading and saying the maximum penalty he could order was “woefully inadequate”.
The judge who rewarded the law firm with the lowest ever GCO proposal with carriage of an $80 million class action this week noted the competitive forces that shaped a “very good deal for group members,” but competition has its downsides, experts say.
The winning, 14 per cent contingency fee proposal by Slater & Gordon in a fight to run a class action against Star Entertainment was not driven by a desire to prevail in the contest and buy market share but was the product of a “reasoned decision” that took into account the law firm’s practice as a whole, a judge has found.
One law firm has emerged victorious in a four-way contest to run a shareholder class action against Star Entertainment with the lowest proposed group costs order since contingency fees legislation was enacted in Victoria.
A battle with the competition regulator over the proposed ANZ, Suncorp tie-up has begun, with the first clash involving a group of rival lenders that want their submissions to the ACCC kept under lock and key.
A judge has approved a bid to consolidate two shareholder class actions against Medibank over a cyberattack that affected 10 million customers, finding that having two firms on the record is better than a carriage contest.
A judge has endorsed Medibank’s bid to sue the OAIC so the court can weigh in on the health insurer’s bid to halt the regulator’s investigation in favour of a class action over its October data breach, saying the OAIC’s interference with the court proceedings could constitute a contempt of court.
A franchisee class action against United Petroleum over the installation of allegedly loss-making Pie Face stores at its franchise sites is fighting two applications for security for costs which it says can’t be met, as funders take little interest in the case.
A Chinese businessman behind the Latitude indoor trampoline park chain has failed in a lawsuit against his Australian co-investor, after claiming a share sale agreement between the two was breached when his partner decided to sell the business to competitor Bounce.
As the knives come out in a contest between four law firms battling to run an $80 million class action against Star Entertainment, a court-appointed barrister has named his favourites – one of which has proposed a contingency fee of just 14 per cent.